Homemade Hot Dog

Submitted by Penny Stettinius

"In response to a request for a hot dog without a year's worth of sodium, I found this recipe online. You add the sodium and none of the chemicals. Voila! A healthy hot dog!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 12-14

ingredients

• 3 small hog casings (or feet sheep, casings 1-1/2-inch diameter)
• 1 lb lean pork, cubed
• 3⁄4 lb lean beef, cubed
• 1⁄4 lb pork fat, cubed
• 1⁄4 cup onion, very finely minced
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon coriander, finely ground
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground mace
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon white pepper, freshly fine
• 1 egg white
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons sugar
• salt
• 1⁄4 cup milk

directions

1. Prepare the casings (see instructions below).
2. In a blender or food processor, make a puree of the onion, garlic, coriander, marjoram, mace, mustard seed, and paprika.
3. Add the pepper, egg white, sugar, salt, and milk and mix thoroughly.
4. Grind the pork, beef, and fat cubes through the fine blade separately.
5. Mix together and grind again.
6. Mix the seasonings into the meat mixture with your hands.
7. This tends to be a sticky procedure, so wet your hands with cold water first.
8. Chill the mixture for half an hour then put the mixture thorough the fine blade of the grinder once more.
9. Stuff the casings and twist them off into six-inch links.
10. Parboil the links (without separating them) in gently simmering water for 20 minutes.
11. Place the franks in a bowl of ice water and chill thoroughly.
12. Remove, pat dry, and refrigerate.
13. Because they are precooked, they can be refrigerated for up to a week or they can be frozen.
14. Preparing the Casing.
15. Snip off about four feet of casing.
16. (Better too much than too little because any extra can be repacked in salt and used later.) Rinse the casing under cool running water to remove any salt clinging to it.
17. Place it in a bowl of cool water and let it soak for about half an hour.
18. While you're waiting for the casing to soak, you can begin preparing the meat as detailed above.
19. After soaking, rinse the casing under cool running water.
20. Slip one end of the casing over the faucet nozzle.
21. Hold the casing firmly on the nozzle, and then turn on the cold water, gently at first, and then more forcefully.
22. This procedure will flush out any salt in the casing and pinpoint any breaks.
23. Should you find a break, simply snip out a small section of the casing.
24. Place the casing in a bowl of water and add a splash of white vinegar.
25. A tablespoon of vinegar per cup of water is sufficient.
26. The vinegar softens the casing a bit more and makes it more transparent, which in turn makes your sausage more pleasing to the eye.
27. Leave the casing in the water/vinegar solution until you are ready to use it.
28. Rinse it well and drain before stuffing.

Reviews

[briggs5]

“The spruce eats” has this exact recipe word for word... same company or plagiarism on somebody’s part???

 

[manushag]

Even though I haven't made this yet...I am working on it now...I want to give you five stars for posting this and five stars for ease of preparation. I have read dozens of hotdog recipes. The only hint I can add, and I plan to try it today, is, after grinding, to use a few ice cubes when you chop the meat in the food processor, to keep the meat cold. The blades of the food processor will heat the meat as you chop. You chop the meat until the ice is gone, one batch at a time, I guess 1/2 lb. at a time, and eliminate the liquid from the recipe. This gives the consistency, then you will stuff. My son is allergic to paprika, among other things, so I have to make everything at home from scratch. I guess I will have to color with food coloring, so as to avoid gray dogs. I will also add a tiny drop of liquid smoke. Thanks so much for posting this recipe! I'll let you know how it turns out! Just finished making 4 lbs of dogs. They came out pretty good, but I had to add additional seasonings. Liquid smoke is helpful...I added about half a teaspoon at first, more for second batch. Very mild flavor as recipe is. Also, I processed in food processor to get that mushy texture. Next time I will process it longer, since it was still sort of a grainy texture. Also tried the ice cube tip, but my food processor wasn't strong enough to chop the ice. I switched to ice water instead. The taste is very good, as is. but my son wanted more flavor so next time I will double the spices. I eliminated the paprika and egg white, due to the allergies. Thanks again for posting!

 

[Vin V.]

recipe looks pretty easy. will be trying soon. giving max stars for now and will ammend if needed later. tip: since this doesn't specify an amount of salt you can cook a small spoonful of the meat mixture in simmering plain unseasoned water to taste it and adjust as needed.